Tigers move on to sectional finals

GREENFIELD — There was mud, rain and soggy conditions for the McClain Tigers on Tuesday night against the Miami Trace Panthers in their Division II SE District Sectional Semifinal.

But by the end of the 80 minutes in the match at McClain Field, the Tigers had won 8-2 and celebrated in an unique way … they took a team slide in the mud on the field as they move on to the next round of the postseason.

The Tigers will have to play on the road this Saturday, as they will face the Fairfield Union Falcons at 4 p.m. for the sectional championship. The Falcons defeated the Hillsboro Indians, 2-0 on Tuesday to set up the sectional final match.

"What a game," McClain head coach Jon Chamblin said. "The first half, we came out hot, then we got stagnant a little bit. I talked to the boys at halftime and said 'this is not the way we need to play. We need to come out fighting.'

"They responded and responded well. I can't fault them. They came out and played well overall, and the second half, they came out ready to play."

For McClain (11-4) they scored the first three goals of the match as the rain fell from the sky in Greenfield under the lights of McClain Field. The first three goals came from Tommy Free, Derek Weller and Moritz Rehra, who scored his kick from around 40 yards out.

The three-goal lead didn't last for the Tigers as Miami Trace rallied back with two goals from Josh Golden for a 3-2 score with 14:14 left in the first half.

As the Tigers held a one-goal advantage at the break, the second half was all McClain, scoring five goals and defending their home field one final time this season.

The second half scoring began with Cody Hardesty moving the Tigers ahead by two goals at the 35:29 mark of the half, followed less than two minutes later with Free scoring for the second time in the match at 34:03 for a 5-2 advantage.

MHS took a four-goal lead at 6-2 with Reid Garrison scoring on a free kick with 27:42, but the Tigers continued with Tommy Henry scoring a goal in the sectional match, as the scoreboard had 19:28 remaining.

McClain's final goal came with 7:54 on the clock from Zack Harper for the 8-2 final score.

At goal for the Tigers was Cameron Spangler.

Now, the Tigers are looking ahead to the sectional finals.

"I think we'll give Fairfield Union quite a game," Chamblin said. "I know in this game, we had pretty good confidence coming in. I think the sectional final will be a good game, so I hope this momentum can carry over.

"I think it will be a battle, that's for sure."